ED HUGHES OF CHANNEL 3 NEWS DIES OF CANCER AT 66

For 36 years, "The Walter Cronkite of Hampton Roads" delivered the news, connected with viewers and left his mark on the community.

No face was more familiar, no voice more trusted than Ed Hughes.

Whether it was a piece on the military or an update on breaking events, his three decades on television and his straightforward anchor-delivery earned Hughes the moniker as "The Walter Cronkite of Hampton Roads," among friends, colleagues and viewers.

"He was a giant in the industry at a time there were only three network TV stations," said Jane Gardner, who co-anchored the evening news alongside Hughes from 1990-98. "Just as he would fight to get a story, just as he'd fight to be first," Gardner said, "just as hard he fought that hated, sneaky disease called cancer."

Hughes died Tuesday. He was 66. Hughes is survived by his seven children and five grandchildren.

For 36 years, Hughes was been a part of broadcast journalism in Hampton Roads. In the Navy, Hughes served four years as a fleet radio operator. He had the lightning bolt tattoos to prove it.

After stints at stations in Maryland and Petersburg, his local start was with WTAR radio. Soon after, Hughes joined the television arm of the station, long before WTAR changed its call letters to WTKR.

"He had worked at the station in almost every capacity," said WTKR-TV news director John Wessling. "He was deeply devoted to the news business and to the U.S. military which brought him to this area."

Charlie Hartig, a former newsman at Channel 3 who now works for the City of Norfolk, met Hughes in 1968. For 36 years, Hartig said, they were like brothers. "The most important thing he taught me was always seek the truth, always be fair and when you can, put yourself in the other person's shoes," Hartig said.

With that philosophy, Hughes earned Associated Press awards from 1972 to 1984 for his breaking news coverage, documentaries and in-depth reports. His success can be partly attributed, colleagues said, to his ability to connect with the people.

"Anytime he went out on a story, he usually met people he knew," said Barbara Hamm, former news director at WTKR, now communications director of Prince George's County Police Department in Maryland.

"People loved Ed Hughes. They trusted him," Hamm said. "So if a hurricane was coming, he was able to deliver the news in the right tone to inform people and calm them."

Hurricanes, shipyard strikes and multiple changes in station ownership, Hughes survived it all.

Only chemotherapy kept him off the air. During his initial treatment, viewers sent thousands of cards and flowers to show how much they appreciated him.

In November 2002, Hughes was diagnosed with colon cancer. After months of chemotherapy, he battled back to return to Channel 3 in February 2003 to anchor broadcasts at noon and 5:30 p.m.

Off-camera, Hughes was compassionate and colorful. A fan of one-liners, photography, NASCAR and baseball, Hughes collected cards and memorabilia. It wasn't unusual to see him at Harbor Park cheering for the Norfolk Tides.

Friends and former competing anchors said Hughes was committed to volunteering his time and his celebrity to help local organizations.

John Miller, former WVEC-TV Channel 13 anchor, current chief development officer at WHRO-TV Channel 15, said of Hughes, "Ed loved Hampton Roads and made it his home.

"That he was able to remain here is a testament to how good he was. You don't see that anymore," Miller said.

"He was the Walter Cronkite of Hampton Roads."

ED HUGHES

* Born March 30, 1938

* Began his local news career in 1967 at a CBS affiliate WTAR radio and television

* At Channel 3, Hughes had been a reporter, news anchor and briefly was news director

* Became Channel 3's 6 p.m. news anchor in 1968

* Married three times; has seven children, over 38-year span; five grandchildren

* Off-camera interests included baseball, NASCAR, photography

* Diagnosed with colon cancer in November 2002; left station for chemotherapy

* Returned to WTKR-TV, Channel 3 in February 2003

* Died June 1, 2004 *

Staff writers Sam McDonald and David Nicholson contributed to this report. *